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Award-winning rookie teacher gets a lucky break — but rule that kept him from being hired remains

Ontario legislature votes not to dump Regulation 274, which keeps young teachers lacking seniority from being hired. But Jason Trinh, profiled in the Star, finally has a job.

Jason Trinh found himself in the right place at the right time when Northern Secondary suddenly needed someone to fill in for a teacher taking an emergency medical leave. It was one of the few ways a rookie teacher can get around a new regulation that forces schools to hire one of five applicants at the top of the seniority list. (CHRIS SO / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

Jason Trinh, an award-winning rookie teacher who couldn’t get hired in September because of Ontario’s new seniority-hiring rules, has landed a job filling in for an emergency medical leave.

The Toronto Star told Trinh’s story in September as an example of how relatively new teachers — Trinh graduated in 2010 — are struggling to get hired because a controversial new Regulation 274 requires principals to hire permanent or long-term fill-ins from among the five candidates with the most seniority, as a way to avoid favoritism and nepotism.

However, for a sudden emergency fill-in when principals have less than 10 days to find a replacement, they are not bound by the new seniority-hiring process.

“We’re thrilled to be able to hire Jason — he was actually in the school (on a one-day supply teaching job) when we learned about the sudden medical leave,” said principal Ron Felsen of Toronto’s Northern Secondary School, where Trinh’s innovative ideas during several long-term fill-ins won him an Ontario Premier’s New Teacher of the Year Award in 2011-2012.

Under the new seniority rules, Trinh has only been eligible for short-term supply jobs this fall, in anything from art to history and English as well as science. Now the molecular biologist says he’s excited to be able to teach three science courses at Northern – every other day.

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But on the in-between days he still will take one-day supply jobs at any school, to continue to boost his spot on the master seniority list.

“It’s good to know I’ll get to start building relationships with students again, and planning lessons and actually teaching — seeing students on a regular basis so I can build that rapport and trust,” said Trinh.

Meanwhile, at Queen’s Park on Thursday afternoon, the Liberals and New Democrats defeated proposed legislation pushed by Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod (Nepean-Carleton) that would have scrapped Regulation 274 but required school boards to have no-nepotism hiring policies approved by Queen’s Park.

Education Minister Liz Sandals has asked two experts to study the regulation and report back.

With files from Robert Benzie

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